Bones of the Kyuubi
by Kitsunegakure no Sato
Summary: He was taken in the night. He was changed forever. And now he fights to get back home, every bone in his body fights to find his mother again.


**Chapter 1: A Fox's Bones**

An old man dressed in robes sat alone inhis office, a large notebook open in front of him, carefully reading the notes hastily scrawled across the pages.

_Experiment 58 (codename: Nine Forests) Status: On Hold_

_The boy brought in for the experiment is by far the youngest that I have ever worked on. The boy is clearly malnourished and must be given proper treatment and care before we can go forward with any testing._

The man sighed and put the book aside, instead reaching for a smaller journal. The first book contained mostly data on failed experiments, but this was a more personal journal, not written for documentation.

_Day 278_

_It's been many months since I was released from imprisonment and forced to work on that monster's experiments. What I've done to all these people is unforgivable, but today was more than I could take, I know the boy that man brought in for his latest experiment. It's a face I thought I'd never see again but there's no mistaking those blue eyes, that blond hair. I was forced to mask my shock and rage as concern for his health, I can't let the other's know who he really is._

The old man blew a puff of smoke from the pipe hanging from his mouth. He continued to pour over the papers in front of him, searching for something, hoping there was something he missed. He grabbed the medical notebook again opening it to an entry near the back.

_Experiment 58-A (Codename: Nine Bones) Status: Successful_

_Week 1: The boy didn't respond to the previous experiment for unknown reasons, one theory our head researcher came up with suggests that the spirit within him prevents him from connecting to the water element properly. For the next test we have decided to go with a physical alteration, rather than chakra based. Previous subjects were unable to adapt to the procedure and died shortly after, but we have high hopes for this boy. His body is still young and constantly changing, perfect for such a transfusion. This week we begin the preparations._

_Week 2: The boy has shown great results, his health remains in perfect conditions and his bone density has become far thicker. It's too early to know if this was a complete success, he will be taken sometime this week for proper testing.  
_

_Week 3: The boy has shown signs that the experiment was a complete success. He cannot control his new abilities very well but that will improve over time. This marks our second great success since we started more than a year ago.  
_

The old man slammed the book down, twenty times he had read these books, and twenty times they had told him nothing other than that the boy he was searching for was still alive. He flipped through the smaller journal wildly, desperately searching for any kind of clue. He stopped once more at the last entry, drops of blood made some of the words illegible.

_Day 421_

_What have I done? How can I ever ask him or his father to forgive me? That boy, that innocent little boy- _a splash of blood covered the next several words. _How could I do something so like this to him? I've doomed him to a life of working for that monster as a slave and soldier. Oh Mi- _The old man's brow furrowed, if only that blood didn't cover that one name, it would tell him so much more. _-ou have done? _

_We're being moved again tomorrow, I don't know where, and I don't know how, but I'm going to leave this book and my medical journal behind. I know we're being moved because someone has found this place, and they'll be coming soon. Whoever you are, I beg you, save Naruto from Orochimaru. Please find him, and take him back home to Konoha. _

The old man shouted in frustration and threw the book across the room, once again he was too late. Too late to stop Orochimaru, too late to save his people. Far, far too late. At the sound of his scream and the crash of the book several figured dressed in black with animal themed masks on their faces appeared seemingly from nowhere, weapons drawn. "Dismissed!" He barked at them.

The figures gave a quick salute. "Yes Hokage-sama!" The four of them disappeared as quickly as the had appeared, vanishing into nothingness. The old man turned around to face the portraits hanging on the back wall of his office. Four pictures hung there in total, one being of himself, the two to its left being his predecessors, the one to his right being his successor who had unfortunately given his life to save the village he loved.

"Minato, what would you have done?" He asked aloud, staring at the portrait of the young blue eyed blond haired man, the fourth Hokage. Hope flashed across the old man's face as he thought of something, there was a small clinking noise as his pipe hit the floor, the man having dropped it in his haste. He was hunched over the desk the small journal and a pen in his hand. Mimicking the unknown person's handwriting he wrote over one of the bloodstains.

It fit! The words fit perfectly in the space, that means the person knew the boy's father, that significantly shortened his list of suspects. One was currently sending him monthly reports from his spy network, another's whereabouts were mentioned in every report from the first. And the last, the last seemed incredibly far fetched, but if it was her then it all made sense, and it gave him an idea. If she really was still alive then he still had a chance.

Rifling through his desk the old man pulled out a map and opened it across his desk. In the corner of the map were several names, he put his finger on one of them. Immediately the letters began to zoom across the map coming to a rest on a location not too far from Konoha. "Minato, even in death you continue to save my hide." A moment later the office was empty, the desk had been cleaned off leaving no trace that the old man had been there.

Elsewhere in an unknown location a young blond haired boy was screaming and trashing around. "Naruto you need to calm down, if this keeps up who knows what damage you could do to yourself." The boy didn't see to hear the man that was desperately trying to get him to sit still. "Dammit, I could use some help in here!"

Several others rushed over pinning his arms and legs down. "Where is she?! What did you do to her?" The boy struggled against the men holding him down.

"I don't like it any more than you do boy, but Orochimaru decided she would be of better use somewhere else." The man couldn't bear to look at the boy, he knew the two had grown close, and when Orochimaru decided someone was no longer of use they didn't live very long.

"Mother..." The boy whispered but was heard by the rest of the room. It was then that the other doctor realized why his former co-worker had been so distraught ever since Naruto had been brought in for the experiments.

"Naruto," the man leaned down to whisper into his ear, "when you get ready to sleep tonight I want to you to stay awake a couple of hours, I have something important to tell you." The boy stopped struggling against the men pinning him down, crying softly.

"I'll be outside, training."

The old man stood with a staff in his hands, dressed all in black, light armor and padding covering the weaknesses that came with age. "Where are they?!" He lifted a bleeding man off the ground by his through. "Tell me or I'll kill you right now!!!"

"The boy isn't here." The man laughed pitifully. "And the woman is probably dead by now." He felt his throat begin to collapse under the man's grip. "Go see for yourself, she's right back there." He was harshly thrown to the floor and began to crawl away when a staff landed square on his head, the sheer force killing him on the spot.

A heavy metal door blocked him from his target. He spun his staff around and smashed it into the door, breaking it and sending it flying off its hinges. "Kushina!" He shouted rushing into the room.

A red haired woman lifted her head slightly, her eyes were bloodshot and she was barely awake. "Sa-Sarutobi?" He nodded and her face light up as relief washed over her. "What about Naruto?" He shook his head, and she fell once again into despair. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't even protect him from myself."

Sarutobi freed her from her shackles and helped her stand up. "Don't worry, we'll find him, and we'll bring him back home." As he walked out of the building with here several figures dressed in black, all wearing different masks, converged on the building, and proceeded to destroy it. 'Orochimaru, for what you've done to this family, I will make you pay with my own hands."

"Are you still awake?" Naruto rolled over on his mattress, his eyes wide open. "Good, we have to move quickly." Naruto jumped up, already fully clothed with his shoes still on. "The watch shifts are changing, we've only got about five minutes."

"And then what? They're going to catch us, they've always caught me before." Naruto still kept up, not wanting to miss a chance to be free.

"I grew up around these parts, I was taken after I grew famous for my work in another country, I don't think Orochimaru knows my hometown is so close to here." The man smiled, it had been forever since he was home. "My family probably still lives there, we can hide out for a while, and send word to Konoha."

"What are you two doing?!"

**End Chapter 1**


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